The present invention relates to commercial ovens and in particular to an oven that may be placed closely adjacent to other heating devices.
Commercial ovens may include features such as forced and heated airflow through the cooking cavity (convection cooking) and the introduction of steam into the cooking cavity (steam cooking). The fan motor for convection cooking, the water handling system for steam cooking, and control electronics for each are normally held in an equipment compartment that is maintained at a substantially lower temperature than the cooking cavity compatible with electrical and electromechanical components.
The equipment compartment is normally adjacent to the cooking cavity to provide for the necessary mechanical and electrical connections between equipment of the equipment compartment and the fan, steam nozzles, and sensors within the cooking cavity. This close proximity results in substantial heat transfer from the cooking cavity and the electrical compartment which, if unaddressed, would unacceptably raise the temperature of the equipment compartment. For this reason, the equipment compartment normally includes one or more cooling fans pulling cool air from outside of the oven housing to pass through the equipment compartment.
The ability to properly cool the equipment compartment with external air is founded on some assumptions about the environment of the oven including assumptions about the temperature of the air being drawn into the oven and assumptions that the primary heat entering the equipment compartment comes from the oven cavity and internally generated heat from the electrical and electromechanical components. These assumptions are normally enforced by requiring that the oven have a minimum clearance distance from other equipment that may present a source of radiated or conducted heat or heated air that could cause the local environment of the equipment compartment to rise beyond the expected normal range.
Providing this clearance in environments where space is scarce and/or enforcing the observation of this clearance in all oven installations can be difficult.